Double-Take

That's what I did when I saw this ruler. This very odd-looking ruler. Then I discovered that it's designed to cut half-square triangles from 2 1/2" strips. That was all I needed to know. The best thing about it is that you can place the ruler on the strips and slice 'em all up without moving the ruler. The bottom half of the ruler can be used to cut the 2 1/2" strip. Then you just place the triangle part of the ruler on the strip and cut away. The triangles are spaced so that whenever you cut around the triangle, the fabric that's left is also a usable triangle. So there's no waste. I snapped a few pictures to show you, but if this doesn't make sense, check out Creative Grid USA's website here. You'll find it under Specialty Rulers. There are downloadable instructions (that I haven't read, of course).

In just a few minutes, I had cut, sewn and pressed 24 half-square triangle units!

And now if you'll excuse me, I have a stack of 2 1/2" strips waiting for me.

Happy Stitching!

Kim

Still Distracted

My rotary cutter and I have a very close relationship. We're the best of friends. Cutting is probably my favorite part of quiltmaking. I know -- very strange. Give me a new blade and a stack of fabric, and I can keep myself occupied for days.

I recently fell in love with Moda Lissa's Carolina Courthouse quilt featured in the June issue of McCall's Quilting. (You can read about it in her blog post here.) It's a great quilt with a unique setting, and she used 1 1/2" strips of Moda fabrics. Having a ton of tiny scraps left over from cutting a million 2 1/2" strips, I saw a perfect opportunity to share some quality time with my rotary cutter! Unfortunately, my wild excitement caused me to cut sizes of my dark fabrics I didn't need, so I started cutting a different quilt. (I'm sure I need therapy, but I'm having too much fun to stop and make an appointment!) Here's a picture of what my rotary cutter and I accomplished. Some of these Moda fabrics are very old (from the mid-90s), and some of them were just barely 1 1/2" wide.

And since I was already cutting . . .

I'm back to 2 1/2" strips now. The fabric on top is from the Kiwi collection by Alice Kennedy for Timeless Treasures. I've been thinking about a quilt using black and white prints for the background, but couldn't decide what else to include. Until I saw this adorable print.

So now I'll have to spend a little quality time with my sewing machine. I hope my rotary cutter doesn't get jealous!

Fun Weekend

The Azalea City Quilters' Guild sponsored a quilt show in Mobile, Alabama this weekend. I worked (okay, okay -- played) at The Quilting Station's booth, signing copies of my book. I had so much fun hangin' out with Ellen (the shop owner), and Ren, Carolyn and Cathy (the shop cheerleaders). I neglected to get a picture of all of them in the booth, but I did get a couple of shots of the booth with customers. There were lots of beautiful quilt kits, Jelly Rolls, and fat quarter and half yard bundles.

And this display of Laurel Burch bags. I wanted all of them, especially the cats.

My mom, Linda, and my Aunt Bonnie came from Montgomery to visit, and I had sooooo much fun with them. My husband refers to them as Crazy 1 and Crazy 2. They're not really crazy -- they just like to have a good time. I snapped a picture of their arrival. They weren't very thrilled about it, but they got over it. I wish Crazy 3 could have been there, too.

I met Evelyn who owns The Traveling Quilt Boutique. She's from Montgomery, too. She tried to convince me that color is my friend. My quilts tend to be a little "quiet." Hers are bold and very colorful. She had some amazing quilts and fabrics in her booth, and I promised to try more exciting fabrics in some of my next projects.

I was so excited to see the Kudzu Girls from Kudzu Blossom Quilt Shop. Also from Montgomery. Must be a trend. Paula is on the left, and Sue -- I mean Janice -- is on the right. Janice reminds me so much of someone I know named Donna, so I've tried really hard to remember that her name is Sue. But it isn't. Her name is Janice. And she's probably really tired of being called Sue! They were so sweet to pose in their cute little aprons! And what a nice booth they had.

Hope your weekend was totally fun, too!